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Radha Swami

Out of all the cults preaching against Sikhi, Radha Swami is perhaps the biggest and strongest cult. It has very large following and is spread in many states in India. The Indian government has provided them with large sum of money to establish their centers all across India and foreign countries. Radha Swami cult was started in Agra by Lala Shiv Dyal. He was usually referred to as “Swami Ji”. His wife’s name was Radha. Hence, the cult was named Radha Swami. Shiv Dyal had two main contemporaries: Rai Salgram and Jaimal Singh. Rai Salgram became the head of the cult in Agra while Jaimal established his own dera in 1891 at Beas in Punjab. Jaimal also had two main contemporaries: Sawan Singh and Bagga Singh. Both had a ruckus and Bagga Singh established his own dera at Taran Taaran. Currently there are dozens of sects of this cult. But the two main branches of this cult are at Agra and Beas. Jaimal, head of dera at Beas, was succeeded by Sawan Singh. After Sawan Singh’s death, Jagat Singh became the head and then Charan Singh.

When Jaimal first came to Beas, many local Sikhs helped him start a Gurdwara. They were fooled by his outer appearance of a Sikh. Land was donated by the Sikhs to the Gurdwara and registered under Guru Granth Sahib’s name. As the time went by, Jaimal firmly established his dera. Eventually, he removed Guru Granth Sahib and declared himself as the Guru and showed his true face to the people. He treacherously changed the registry of the land under his name and became the sole owner of the dera. He started preaching importance of having a human guru and discrediting Guru Granth Sahib. All of the branches of Radha Swami put a great emphasis on their own human gurus and regularly preach against Sikhi.

Contradictions and Anti-Sikhi Messages

Many of the books and alleged gurus of this cult constantly contradict each other. Although their objective is to mislead the Sikhs and convince them to abandon Guru Granth Sahib, their preaching often goes against the very principles they laid their foundations on. Some of their main books are Saar Bachan, Mera Satguru, Gurmat Sidhant and Prem Pattar. According to Saar Bachan:

“Guru Granth cannot be the true Guru. Neither does it talk nor does it give any message.”

Sawan Singh in book Gurmat Sidhant writes:

“Granth cannot show us the true path” (Page 66)

On the other hand, Rai Saalgram says, “Form of God is Shabad. Everything in the world is another form of Shabad. Without contemplating on Shabad no one can reach heaven. Those who wish to achieve salvation must come in the sanctuary of the guru.”

NOTE: In the above quote, Saalgram refers to his mantra as word and himself as guru.

“Sikh brothers shouldn’t oppose Radha Swami. Maharaj (their Guru) was himself born in a Sikh family and majority of the followers of this religion are Sikhs. Radha Swami does not endorse anti-Sikhi teachings. Only backward old-age thinkers oppose Radha Swami.” (Page 107)

Later on the same book states:

“All religions were started for personal reasons of self gain. The fact is that all religions have greatly been the cause of human sufferings and became the root of human problems in the world.” (Page 171)

On one hand they say they have nothing against Sikhi and on the other hand they are openly criticizing and insulting Sikhi in their books. The book Mera Satguru further states:

Sikhs refuse to believe in human guru and believe having faith in Granth Sahib is enough. Such Sikhs mistakenly believe in some words allegedly spoken by Guru Gobind Singh. Whatever the reasons may be, they don’t feel the need to have a human guru even though their books openly preach the importance of human guru. (Page 56-57)

Only alive human can be the true guru. No one from previous times can be our guru. (Page 59-60)

In the light of the above quote, when asked who a human guru was of Shiv Dyal, their reply is:

His guru was word. He did not take religious counsel from anyone.” (Radha Swami Darpan, Page 55)

Then one must ask: If Shiv Dyal’s guru could be a “word” then why is there such an important need of a human guru now? Had this been the fact, Shiv Dyal himself would’ve adopted a human guru.

They discredit Guru Sahib giving Amrit to Sikhs by writing:

Under the supervision of ten Gurus, Sikhs became a powerful force in India. At last, they were successful in over throwing the Mughal government and establish their own sovereignty under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. For being aggressive they came to be known as “Singhs”. (Mera Satguru, 109)

Message

So what do they preach besides advocating human guru? Their entire belief system is based on eating ‘Jooth’ or defiled food. Followers of this cult are taught to drink spit of ‘paan’ (spicy product made for chewing). According to Saar Bachan:

In literal sense, the above lines translate to: “A Radha Swami is he who drinks spit or saliva of the guru…..drinking the spit of the guru blesses the life of the devotee and purifies mind and the body.”

Blessed and pure is the food which has been defiled by the guru. (Prem Pattar, 103)

Although Radha Swami prohibits its followers from consuming tobacco and alcohol, its founder, Shiv Dyal, had a keen interest in smoking and drinking. According to Saar Bachan:

Maid brought a hukka (smoking pipe to inhale tobacco) and served it to Radha Swami with her own hands.

After eating food, Swami Ji smoked one cigarette and distributed the rest among the followers.

One time, Swami Shiv Dyal asked Saalgram to bring him hukka. Saalgram quickly ran to the shop, brought hukka and presented it to Swami Ji.” (Jeevan Chrittar Saalgram)

Further, they do not believe in raising arms which is why Radha Swami followers strongly oppose Sikhs for keeping Kirpan. They forget the fact that their ‘guru’ Jaimal served in the British army and took active role in killing people. Their twisted ideology is based on hypocrisy. Radha Swami has spread in many countries under the current leadership of Gurinder Sinh. Followers are brainwashed against Sikhi. They are given five words to recite everyday: Oankaar, Rarankar, Jot Niranjan, Soha(ng) and Satnam. Misinterpreting Gurbani is crucial part of their congregation. For example, wherever word “Nanak” appears in Gurbani, it is replaced with the name of the current guru. Gurbani is misused to justify the need of human guru. Their anti-Sikhi practices are endless but one thing is definite that their existence is a direct challenge to the survival of Sikhi.